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Fuel payment will be cold comfort

OLDER pensioners were one of the few groups to benefit from the budget — although campaigners say the measures do not go far enough, writes David Budworth.

Pensioners aged 80 and over will get an extra £100 winter-fuel allowance on top of the £200 that is already given to people of 60 and over. The allowance is paid per household rather than per pensioner.

Mervyn Kohler of Help the Aged says: “The winter-fuel increase will add less than £2 a week to the income of many of the poorest pensioners. It will not go far when pensions and savings plans are in freefall. Many elderly people are also being hit by record rises in council tax. The budget was the chancellor’s opportunity to take decisive action, but pensioners will look in vain for reassurance.”

The chancellor also scrapped benefit cuts imposed on elderly people undergoing hospital treatment. Before the budget